The Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, has announced that the state has entered into discussions with Russian investors to purchase tropical foods directly from women farmers. He revealed this during the flag-off ceremony of the federal government’s distribution of farm inputs and equipment to small-scale farmers in Niger State, an initiative aimed at boosting food security and reducing poverty.
Governor Bago explained that the new investment would empower women farmers to become self-sustaining while contributing to household income and national food security. He disclosed that a delegation of foreign investors from Russia had visited through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and expressed interest in tropical foods grown by women in the state.
“We received a delegation of foreign investors from Russia through the ministry of foreign affairs. They were here, and they want tropical foods that our women can supply. So, imagine each woman planting one banana that Russians want. We provide you the seedlings to plant in your house, don’t go to farm, we will teach you how to protect it. You’ll harvest it and we’ll obtain from you,” Bago said.
He added that women farmers would benefit from monthly payments of N100,000 depending on the crops they cultivate. “Every month N100,000 alert. If you choose mango, we’ll give you the seedlings, every month N100,000. If you want to do guava, cashew, pawpaw, all these things are things you can do,” he noted.
The governor praised President Bola Tinubu for his continuous support of agriculture, describing the federal government’s all-year-round farming initiative as a boost to the state’s agricultural development plan. He also disclosed that Niger State would establish a Cooperative Bank in 2026 with a take-off capital of N2 billion to provide loans for farmers through cooperative associations.
“The support of the federal government will complement what the state is already doing in agriculture and will help address almost half of the challenges faced by farmers. The aim of all these is to support you and to encourage you so that you can be self-sustaining. Niger State from 2026, we are going to start a pilot scheme of 2 million women in agriculture.
“This initiative is going to transition some women out of poverty. Niger State will start the Cooperative Bank of Niger. We are going to open that bank with N2 billion it is for agriculture only. We are going to invite all the corporate organisations to support this initiative. This will reduce the burden of interest rates. It will reduce the burdens of hardship in lending,” Bago stated.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Aliyu Sabi, said the programme was designed to ease the burden of high costs of farm inputs while supporting smallholder farmers. He explained that the federal government was committed to increasing food production, creating jobs, and making food more affordable.
“What we are doing here is to flag off the distribution of a lot of agricultural inputs to farmers. This is to promote the all year round policy of President Bola Tinubu towards ensuring that our food security is guaranteed and also bringing in a new era of food sovereignty where we are able to produce what we eat and eat what we produce,” Sabi said.
Highlighting Niger State’s advantage, he described the governor as a champion of agricultural development. “So we are here in Niger State and like we all know, the farmer governor is doing wonders in the agricultural revolution and rightly so because the state has 76,000 kilometers of arable land and it is located within the Guinea Savannah and there is no state that has this singular advantage and they have the largest water body.
“So, we believe if we are to promote all year round farming as Niger State is the best model and that is why we are here and we are giving all of these items you are seeing here free of charge,” he added.
The minister thanked the president and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for selecting Niger State as a pilot state for the project, pointing out the inclusion of women, youth, and people with special needs in agriculture.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Marcus Ogunbiyi, stressed that 35 per cent of the distributed inputs were allocated to women farmers in line with the National Gender Policy on Agriculture. He said the ministry was collaborating with state governments, cooperatives, and the private sector to ensure that only genuine farmers benefit from the initiative.
Items distributed during the ceremony included herbicides, liquid fertilisers, pesticides, growth enhancers, power tillers, water pumps for irrigation, grinding machines, and tricycles.
